Collaborative research unit of UH Manoa and NOAA awarded funds for several research projects including marine debris program, coastal research, and climate fore

The Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), a research unit of the School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, was recently awarded more than $8.6 million in funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The funding will go towards 30 different research projects currently being conducted by both JIMAR and NOAA scientists including protected species investigations such as its Hawaiian monk seal program, coastal research with highlights including its Northwest Hawaiian Islands marine debris program and coral reef mapping efforts, and climate research conducted through the UH Sea Level Center and the Pacific ENSO (El-Nino Southern Oscillation) Center.

"We have enjoyed 25 years of partnership and collaboration in research efforts of mutual interest to JIMAR and NOAA," said JIMAR Director Tom Schroeder. "The support provided by NOAA has enabled our students and researchers to participate in research investigations and activities that have implications not only for Hawaiʻi‘s marine and atmospheric environments, but for the nation and the entire world as well."

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, JIMAR was created as a cooperative venture between NOAA and UH Mānoa with a mission to conduct research of mutual interest to both institutions. JIMAR works closely with NOAA Research as well as the National Weather Service through its Pacific Division and the National Marine Fisheries Service through its recently-established Pacific Islands region.

"We are extremely grateful for the relationship the university has established with NOAA over these past years," said UH President Evan S. Dobelle. "NOAA‘s partnership with the university is a key example of the achievements and success that can be gained when institutions with mutual interests collaborate in their efforts."

In this past fiscal year, JIMAR accounted for nearly 20 percent of the extramural funds received by SOEST with nearly 70 awards to JIMAR totaling almost $11.5 million of SOEST‘s $60.6 million in annual funding. The major funding support for JIMAR is provided by NOAA and UH Mānoa under the terms of the original memorandum of understanding. Significant research support is also provided by grants from the National Science Foundation and from other federal and state agencies for specific research projects.

In addition to conducting funded research, JIMAR works closely with other UH Mānoa-NOAA partnerships including SOEST‘s Hawaiʻi Undersea Research Laboratory and the Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, and promotes research by fostering collaborations among other UH Mānoa and NOAA units.

"JIMAR is an important part of the scientific enterprise at UH Mānoa. Its successes speak to the quality, integrity and scope of work being conducted here by our top-caliber researchers," said UH Mānoa Chancellor Peter Englert.

JIMAR evolved from an original three themes in 1977—equatorial oceanography, climate, and tsunamis and other long-period waves—to six official themes today, which in addition to the original three also includes fisheries oceanography, tropical meteorology and coastal research. In addition to investigations by UH Mānoa and NOAA scientists, JIMAR‘s Invited Scientists Program provides support for long and short-term visits by nationally and internationally recognized scientists to do research directly related to JIMAR research themes.

For more information about JIMAR, visit http://ilikai.soest.hawaii.edu/JIMAR.